The process of defragging helps to rearrange the files and unused space on your hard disk so that programs run faster.

Before Defragging, it may be a good idea to check how much of your hard drive is fragmented. You can do this by running ScanDisk. Empty the temp folders and Recycle Bin before defragging.

Windows 95 and Windows 98-: Open the Start Menu, choose Programs, choose Accessories, and choose System Tools and click on Disk Defragmenter.

You defragging schedule will depend on how much you use the PC. A good rule of the thumb is to defrag every two weeks.

Make sure all your files are closed and then you have turned of the screensaver also.

Spring Cleaning

No more hard disk space left? Getting disk error or illegal operations? It may be time to clean up your hard disk. A few spring cleaning pointers to help you out.

1- Toss out unwanted applications-: check out all the software applications you have loaded on the PC. Delete the old applications if you have installed newer versions. Go to the Control Panel’s Add/Remove program option and uninstall those applications you don’t need.

2- Run ScanDisk-: the ScanDisk option in Windows is very useful application which fixes problem like lost clusters, invalid directory entries and physical disk errors. Run ScanDisk once a month.

Go to start, choose Programs, choose Accessories, and choose System Tools and click on ScanDisk. Click the drive that contains the folders and files you want to check.

3- Defrag often, once in two weeks.

4- Empty Recycle Bin-: Right-click on Recycle Bin icon on the Desktop and choose Empty Recycle Bin from the dropdown menu.

5- Clean out your folders-: do you really need all those download you had undertaken for a past research project or those games you seldom plays? Delete those folders that are not required.

6- Delete .tmp files and create more space on hard disk.

Close all programs. Go to Windows Explorer. Press the key to open find dialog box. Enter *.tmp in the box. Make sure that C: Drive is listed in the Look-in box. Include subfolders by checking them. When .tmp files appear, delete them.

7- Delete temporary Net files to create more space.

Go to the temp Internet Files folder in Windows Explorer. Delete all present files.

8- There are several Windows components on your hard disk that you could do without. You could remove these individual components from the Add/Remove Windows setup option and create more space on your disk

Some windows components that are not necessary are accessories such as Desktop Wallpapers (a saving of 700kB) and games (a saving of 600kB

Before you format…..

1- Enter the hard drive’s technical specifications (number of cylinders, tracks, sectors etc.) into the PC’s BIOS setup table so that it is available for the machine’s Startup program.

2- Backup all your important data onto another hard disk, recordable CDs, Zip Drive, magnetic tapes or floppies. If you have a sort of backup space or are in hurry, copy only important folders. Backup your e-mail and address books too. After taking the backups, check them out to make sure that they are okay.

3- Backup any folders that you share with others over a network.

4- Keep handy the installation disks or CDs of the application software you use, such as Windows or an office suite. These will have to be re-installed after formatting.

5- Keep handy the driver disks for your printer, sound card, CD ROM driver, modem or other devices. These will have to be re-installed after formatting.

FAT Facts